Lovely~Richie Tozier {2}

05. I Can And I Will

Victoria and Richie walked to school hand-in-hand. When they arrived it seemed as if all eyes were on them. Peter and Daniel had been looking for Victoria and Richie all morning to warn them about what happened. Logan had accompanied them eventually and was just as worried as they were.

"Victoria!" Peter yelled making both her and Richie turn around. He signalled for them to walk over and they did.

"What the fuck is happening?" Victoria asked.

"Someone started telling everyone that your mom hits you and that you cheated on Richie with Bill" Peter explained and she froze. She fell silent, her heart was beating rapidly.

"Who started telling everyone?"

"I don't know! Who knows about your mom?" Peter quietly asked.

"You, Daniel and my friends but they would never..."

"I swear I didn't tell anyone" Daniel said as Peter nodded in agreement.

"And I may have kissed Bill but I never cheated on Richie" She shook her head. An imaginary lightbulb flickered in her head. "It was Rebecca"

"There you fucking go again"

"Who else would it be Richie?!" She didn't give him time to answer. "You know what? You can fuck off. I'll deal with it!" She angrily said before walking away. She found Rebecca and walked up to her.

"Did you tell everyone?!" She asked and Rebecca smiled

"I told you you were gonna be sorry"

"How did you even?....that fucking bitch" Victoria sighed, realizing that it was Julianna who told her everything.

"You rang?" Julianna smirked.

"Why the fuck do you two hate me so much?!"

"Like I said, I always get what I want and you were fucking getting in the way of everything" Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"I just don't like you. I thought it would be fun to mess with you" Julianna winked.

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"Wait! So who told everyone?!" Beverly asked as the losers all sat together at lunch.

"Rebecca!" Vic yelled as Richie rolled his eyes.

"Listen Vic! I talked to Rebecca and she swore to my face that she wasn't the one who told everyone! Besides, how would she even know?"

"Julianna told her!"

"Are you sure it wasn't just Julianna?"

"Why don't you fucking believe me?! Im your girlfriend!" Vic argued.

"Yeah Rich, why would Vic lie about all of this?" Eddie defended her.

"Why would Rebecca do all of these things?"

"Because she fucking likes you!"

"Okay but why is she taking such extreme measures?"

"She said it's because she always gets what she wants" Victoria explained.

"She said that?" Richie asked in a mocking tone.

"Yes!"

"That doesn't sound like something she would say" He shook his head.

"Why do you keep defending her?!"

"Because she seems cool" He defended and all of his friends winced at his words.

"She's trying to make my life a living hell!"

"Don't be so fucking dramatic!" She fell silent. She's heard someone say that to her many times before. She's heard that being yelled at her whilst she cried because she was hurt both physically and emotionally.

"Im sorry" She whimpered and that's when Richie realized how harsh his words were. His eyes widened as he realized why that shut her down so quick. He's heard it being said to her by her mother. That was her weakness. Victoria Peña was a strong person that had been through alot but the one person who always bested her was her own mother.

"What the fuck Richie?!" Stan angrily yelled.

"No! It's fine. He's right.  I-I just need to get over it" Victoria defended as her friends listened to her words in pity.

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"Im being dramatic too" Richie spoke beside a silent Victoria. She practically flinched at the word 'dramatic'.

"No you're not" She whispered, putting her head down. It was no secret that her whole class had heard the rumors and were obviously talking about her.

"Is she okay?" Rebecca asked Richie in fake concern. He glared at Rebecca.

"Obviously fucking not"

"What happened?" She asked and that was Rebecca's mistake, everyone heard about the rumors. There was no way she didn't know.

"You know what happened so why don't you leave?"

"Rich...do you think the adults know?" Victoria whimpered. She was shaking and her breathing was becoming heavy.

"Maybe. Why?"

"If-if the adults know do you think they'll tell my mom? B-because if they do she'll kill me" Victoria shakily said. She was terrified. She realized that if her mother had found out it would be worse than before.

"Fuck" He knew she was right. Victoria began to tap her foot and took deep, shallow breaths. She was shaking and her breathing began to become more and more uneven. She was moments away from bursting out into tears but Richie knew what to do. He had been there for her many anxiety attacks and he grabbed her hand as she held his tightly. He was wincing at how hard she was gripping his hand but he didn't care. He just wanted her to be okay. He slowly talked her through it. Telling her how to breathe, telling her that she was going to be okay. He told her over and over again that she was going to be okay and she believed him.

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Victoria was sitting on her bed as Richie fed Nigel jr. Richie hadn't left Victoria's side since the end of the school day. He walked her home without even stopping at his house next door. He went upstairs with her and and told her he was going to stay the night. He had no intentions of leaving Victoria's side.

He sat next to her, placing an arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him and sighed deeply. She was done with everyone and everything

"I believe you"

"What?"

"Im sorry that I didn't before but I do now and I promise you, that bitch Rebecca will never hurt you again. I won't let her"

"You can't promise me that"

"I can and I will"